Mission Bay HOW Tournament

Whoops! Forgot to post up the results of the HOW tournament from 5/9/14 at Mission Bay.

I did some prefishing in the days leading up to the tournament, and had a general idea of what I was going to do. They were biting the warblade, and of course the BH swimbaits. Unfortunately, all the fish I'd caught prefishing were no where close to being legal. I knew it was going to be tough fishing on tournament day. Add to the fact that the days leading up were EXTREMELY hot and windy, and day of would be much cooler. Nevertheless, I was planning on hitting some channels, and some docks, as the east bay just wasn't producing at the time.

Come tourney day, I show up early at 6 a.m. Lots of people already there and boats near the water. Being my first tournament, I was very nervous, yet excited to compete! Met up with Jarrod, and we traded some intel/tips/plans for the days events. Signed in, brought our boats down, and listened in on the captain's meeting. Apparently, there were about 102 other anglers out there on that day. Yikes!

I had brought 4 rigs with me on that day:  Alabama Rig, homemade warblade, BH swimbait, and a spinner bait. I'll usually throw out the BH, as that's my confidence rig that's tried and true. Once I found them, I was planning on throwing some bigger/flashier baits to get the bigger ones. At the start of the horn, we were off to fish some points and docks.

Nothing was going on on our first few stops. I mean absolutely nothing! Fish just weren't where they were before, and the tides was not moving just yet. As we made some stops near the west side coves, I thought for sure we would get at least bit once. Nope, nothing. Threw everything I had tied on. Not a sniff. Decided to make our way to the main channel near the bridges, as that's always a top producer.

Again nothing for some time, and decided to now drift inwards towards Fiesta Island not before throwing some baits out. I set myself up before the bridges and threw towards the shores. This usually rewards me with some nice bass, and I was hoping the same would happen that day. Tossed out my 1/4oz. BH on 8lb test, and got absolutely smashed! Alright! First fish in the boat! Or so I thought...Somehow she broke off, and I knew that one was a tanker. Bleh, should have retied after my prefishing sessions. Oh well, live and learn.

We drifted through and past the bridges, and still couldn't find any willing players. As Jarrod left to hit some docks, I stayed in the general area, tossing out the 'Bama rig, warblade, and the swimbait. Finally, I hooked into another fish and measured it out to be a legal! Nice, into the tankwell she went, and back to slinging the baits. Again, nothing happening for a good amount of time, so we continued drifting inward.

As Jarrod and I were shooting the shit, I looked into my tankwell to see how my fish was doing. It was in there for almost 2 hours, and was probably losing weight quick. But one thing I noticed was some clam shells were all on the bottom now. Hmmm, these guys were on the chew near the bottom. Once I saw that, I tied on my trusty T-rigged T&C Swimbait in Razor Clam and first cast, BAM, fish on! I actually caught 2 more and on the last one it tore up my swimbait. My. Very. Last. T&C. Swimbait (in razor clam). It was my absolute favorite color (one that has caught my 2nd best halibut). Oh well, things slowed down quite a bit as I didn't really have anything remotely close to the T&C. Though, happily we weighed my fish after calling over the weigh boat. Turns out, she was 2lb 6oz! Nice!

As the time ticked on, and the day progressed, fishing was just extremely slow (as I expected). Not much chatter on the radios, so we headed back towards the launch. Once closing time came around, and everyone had their fill of some delicious Thresher shark tacos, we awaited the results. Apparently, it was slow fishing for everyone else too. Not much people caught legals, so I was stoked that I at least weighed one fish. If I hadn't lost my first one, who knows what would have happened. They announced the top 6 (or 7), and would announce the rest of the results later in the coming days. Turns out, I actually got 8th place! I was super stoked! Fishing my first tournament, against 102 anglers, and I got top 10!

All in all, I had a great time, for a great cause. Definitely will be fishing more tournaments to come! Didn't really take much pictures on the water, as I was too focused on fishing. But next time, hopefully I'll be able to get more footage, AND do better.

Hana pa'a!

Awesome bycatch

Decided to do a little prefishing for this weekends tourney, yesterday afternoon. Grabbed only my bass gear, and was OTW by 4:30pm. Couldn't really find numbers OR size, but did find a pattern on what they were hitting (my secret). Of course I catch a non-targeted species, one such that has eluded me in size for a long few months. with no gaff or gameclip on me, I beached my yak and landed her on the sand.

Taped out at 35", new PB for me! Looks like I get to finally change my PB list!

Fishing is Heating Up in Southern California

When many think of Southern California, they see year round sunny days without much seasonal changes. That's somewhat true, however, we do have variations in weather that do affect water temperatures and fishing conditions. Thus, certain times of year see better fishing for certain species. With Spring finally here, bringing warmer conditions and longer days, the bite is definitely getting hotter and only getting better!

With such close proximity to many great fisheries, from our freshwater lakes and reservoirs to the saltwater bays and inshore kelp beds, now's the time to get out on the water! For many beginners, I'd recommend starting off slow and hitting one of the many lakes and reservoirs. Getting comfortable in your in your new boats is a must. But if you're more than ready to tackle the surf, have at it!

Bass are either in prespawn, or spawning and are moving in shallow. Dropshotting worms, or slow dragging jigs in 5'-10' of water seem to be the ticket. If you're more into saltwater action, the bays are spitting out some nice chunks of saltwater bass! Sticking to structure, and slow swimming  a swimbait over some eel grass or channel edges have produced great numbers. Now that the sardines have showed up, drifting with live bait has been producing nice sized halibut!

Whether you're an experienced kayak fisherman,  just starting out, or even just thinking about jumping into this sport, now's the time to get out and fish! Remember, a bad day of fishing is still better than a good day at the office!

LA harbor (aka the sewer)

Decided to take the kayaks up with me while I attended the Fred Hall show up in Long Beach, this past weekend. Plan was to fish LA Harbor in the morning, then head off to Fred Hall for the rest of the afternoon. I was excited at the prospect of fishing new waters, especially one that has pumped out nice sized halibut! Friday afternoon, I loaded the kayaks up and we hit the road.

Bright and early the next morning, we launched out of Cabrillo Beach Boat launch. The girlfriend wanted wanted to tag along too, so I got a photographer for this session! I placed myself in the Hi seat position of my Cuda 14, which gave for a comfortable session throughout.

Flat, calm conditions for the morning. Tides were expected to be outgoing until 10ish. This being my first time here, I had a plan to hit the bait barge, pick up some bait, then drift outwards to the mouth of the harbor with the tides. Following the channel ledges and the submerged dike, in hopes of some big fish.  Ended the day with a nice legal sand bass, 1 legal/3 short halibut, and tons of lizards. The infamous "sewer" provided a nice change of pace and scenery, and hope to fish it again! Some pics of my session:

Short, Big Bay session...

After recently rigging my new kayak, I couldn't wait to get out and test it out. so, I decided for a quick morning session. Launched out of Shelter Island to small wind, and slack low tide. Tides forecast for a big incoming swing, so these were perfect drifting conditions. Paddled over to the bait barge, and picked up a scoop of less than 5" anchovies. No sardines again, so they'll have to do.

Paddled to near the mouth of the bay and set a drift back into the bay. With the smaller size bait, I was getting lots of action. I usually drift with 2 poles at once, but with the amount of action going on, it got a bit messy. I'm eyeing the Ram Rod Light Speed Mount to accommodate the longer butt ends of the poles I use. Was a great day to be out on my Jackson Cuda, and was very happy with how I rigged things up. Here's some pics of what was caught:

Stormy Weather Diversions

Rockfish season opener for the Southern California region starts March 1st, but with stormy weather being forecast over the weekend (8-12ft swells and 40MPH gusts), I've decided to do some much needed prep work on my new Jackson Kayak Cuda 14.

I was able to take out my new boat, with just the OEM parts a few times. Stock parts include 2 Ram Tough Tubes with Combination Bulkhead/Flat Surface Base and Plunger, right behind and to the side of the seat. This mounting base features a locking mechanism that also has a release plunger to move freely and/or remove the rod holder. Much more robust than the older Ram Ball Mounting system.

The center hatch cover features 2 gear tracks for mounting any Ram or Scotty accessory, as well as some compartment space for smaller items like my lures and weights. I, however, noticed there was a lot of flex in the hatch when placing heavier gear in the pole holder on the gear track. It isn't a problem with lighter gear, but since I drift fish with weight anywhere from 2-32oz., I needed a sturdier system for my style of fishing. Enter YakAttack's GearTrac system.

After researching a bit online, I stumbled on Matt Trucks posting of his installation of the GT90 track mounting system. I wanted to ensure a sturdy mount, so I also went ahead with using the Full Back plating, instead of the included nuts and bolts. I'd be lying if I said installation was a breeze, as ensuring everything lines up in that tight space, provided some difficulties. But, the end results are well worth the planning and effort. I also installed YakAttack's Mighty Mount system, to provide that additional mounting strength. I'd previously found that the Tough Ram Ball mount and Ram Rod holder would loosen, even after I tightened it down.

Next order of business was the installation of my fish finder. I like the transducer to be actually in the water (I've done both through hull and scupper mounted on my other kayak), so I fabricated a bracket mount to go through the scupper. Easy enough with another of Matt's helpful posting, and I was done in less than 30 minutes.

Here's how it looks with everything installed, and ready to go. Can't wait to give it a go with the new upgrades!

SD Bay Last Week(end) Quick Report

I've been meaning to put up a report of my recent fishing from last week and this past weekend, but work has been keeping me quite busy. So, better late than never.

I'd recently bought a new boat, the Jackson Cuda 14 last Monday, and was quite excited to try it out that day.

Didn't really have much time to rig it up fancy, so I went out with just a couple rods and hit up the South bay. First impressions? I absolutely love this boat! Very stable and quite fast, like my Trident 15. Lots of deck space, and quite the comfy seat! The weather was a bit snotty, and the Cuda did really well in windy weather. Having the rudder especially helped with tracking straight in the wind and chop. 

Hit SD bay over the weekend as well for some nice players.

I was able to pick up my first ever bonefish from the south bay! Those suckers are fun little drag burners. Also picked up 20+ spotties in the same session. Good times out there in the new boat. Hoping to take her out in La Jolla soon. Thank for looking!

Hanapa'a!